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Film

A guide supporting the study and production of Film across ASU.

Movie Review Query Engine

A Web favorite for locating reviews from multiple sources, including the leading review sources. 

Print Resources

Film Review Index:  Vol. I:  1882-1949,   Vol. II:  1950-1985.
PN 1995 .F5134x Hayden and West Stacks
An index to film reviews in newspapers, magazines, trade journals, reference works, and monographic surveys.  Good place to start.

A Guide to Critical Reviews.  Part IV:  The Screenplay.
PN 2277 .N5 S3x Hayden and West Stacks
2 vols. + supplement.
Indexes reviews in mostly popular magazines for about 12,000 American and foreign screenplays (feature length movies) from 1927 to 1980.

Selected Film Criticism.  7 vols.
PN 1995 .S426 Hayden and West Stacks
Selected reprinted reviews from trade journals and magazines.  Each film averages two short reviews.  Covers 1896 to 1960.  Good source for quick information and evaluation.

 

Online Film Indexes

Screen Studies Collection

The first stop for any serious research on film or films.  Database includes:

  • AFI Catalog (the American Film Institute):  a comprehensive and detailed catalog of American films; 
  • FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals: the leading database of film journals and articles;
  • Film Index International:  a database of film journals and articles that focuses on international film.

General Online Article Indexes with Film Content

Popular, Trade and Scholarly: Article Publication Types

Depending on the focus of the class, your professor may want you to find particular types of sources for your research assignments.  This is especially important in the world of articles, which come in three main types:  Popular, Trade and Scholarly.  So what should you look for it your professor says you must or should be using one of these types of articles?  

The ASU Library has an online tutorial you can view that will define each type of articles.  We also have a handout your can view and refer to. 

But in Film Studies Trade Journals are especially valuable if you are studying the industry and film production.  Trade Journals are regularly published titles that reports on the news of the day and recent developments in a particular industry.  The articles and news items are written by reporters who follow the industry closely.  

Industry Web Sites and Blogs: Trade Publications

These sites are all great places for tracking current news and developments in the Film Industry.  Most of them have Twitter, Facebook or RRS feeds that will allow you to follow them more easily.  

This is just a sample of the multitude of sites and blogs available, courtesy of Diana King at UCLA.

 

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